Thursday, June 1

Cheating Arsenal to be kicked out of CL?

Fifa has launched a probe into whether Arsenal have broken regulations which may leave the club exposed to possible expulsion from the Champions League.
BBC Newsnight has learnt that a police probe in Belgium has concluded Arsenal made secret payments of £1m to Beveren....
from...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/5037494.stm
Perhaps Spurs will get in after all...

Aside from Eboue how did Arsenal benefit? May need to read this again, bit weary, but how is this much different than Man U which has some tie-up with a lower level Dutch side to which they loan players? Might be getting those details confused. I also think it's a bit rich for Sepp Blatter to use this case as an example of taking a stand against corruption. Sort of like the Bush adminstration refusing to increase mileage requirements, offering tax incentives for SUVs and then insisting they put a wind farm off the Cape because we have a pending energy crisis.

Looks harmless enough on today's media sites. Arsenal deny wrongdoing, lawyers say Arsenal are far enough removed from anything not to get into trouble and it was already public knowledge that we had an agreement with Beveren and that Ivorians were being funnelled in there. No way we will be removed from Champions league - odds on a fine and even that may be hard to justify. I am sure there is some breach of rules here and that's never good but I cant say for sure as I dont really know much about it. I will try and see the programme online today and see what they claim.

I thin Johno, they have done wrong. Its impossible for them to take actual ownership of the clubm it would just be too obvious. So see that money there, 'its a loan', okay?... Its the loan is undocumented, it could be interesting.

Christian du Four, the investigating magistrate in the Flemish town of Dendermonde, who began his probe into Beveren under the initial, mistaken, belief that the secretive £1m funding may have been linked to money-laundering, described De Waele as Arsenal's "straw man" on the Beveren board.

A director of Beveren, who did not wish to be identified, told Newsnight that in return for the £1m, De Waele was given 50% control of Beveren and Guillou was given another 30%.

And then transfers happened...

I think their G14 status will save them, but there is material wrongdoing. Put it this way, if had to use the sarbanes oxley concept of 'arms length', then Dein would be going to jail. As is, I expect him to step down from the FA, and Aresnal to get a token fine.

I don't see where there is material wrongdoing here. How did Arsenal benefit or anyone, in this case Dein, personally profit from this tie-up? They still paid 1.5mm pounds for Eboue which was probably the market rate for a unproven player in a lower league club.If i'm not mistaken players in the Belgian league where throwing matches which came to light based on unusually high levels of betting on certain matches. They were investigating serious crimes and came upon the equivalenet of a parking ticket

Both private and publicly held companies make investments in risky ventures every day in every country around the globe. Arsenal, as an entity, is no different and should not be treated differently. Frankly, it's no one's business how they spend their money or what they invest in. They clearly have not gained an unfair advantage over other clubs in the FA. Much ado about nothing! I'm more concerned about the waistline of Theo's bird.

Aye - if Beveren were in the Champions League it might be more of an issue though Wenger has always let loanees play against us, I cant see Arsenal ever say who can and cant play. I agree, this is a parking ticket rather than a murder. I suspect this will disappear quickly much like when we were under investigation for possible player visa fraud and offed Silvinho as quick as possible.

Pull your head out of whatever hash bar / coffee house / hostel you're hanging out in and realize this fact: backroom deals in boardrooms are a reality. The euro/dollar drives decisions. Club boards have a responsibility to their organization's future and to shareholder values. No one was hurt by this deal if, in fact, it actually took place. A super-heavyweight club like Arsenal making an investment, silent or otherwise, in some MLS-like shabby outfit in Belgium of all places is Arsenal's business. Who was hurt? No one. If you are a bit green with jealousy over Arsenal's CL run, the signing of Walcott, the emergence of superstars all under the age of 23, etc, maybe you should try to step aside from your club affiliation bias! Hey, I don't even support the Gunners but what they do with their cash is their business. Good for them - wish MCFC would have thought of it first. (by the way, if you think Arsenal's the first to do this, you must be a daft prick)

I like your style. Let's bring organized crime into the fold and start taxing the blighters. Plus we'd save money on trying to stamp it out, so that's a win on two fronts.

"Who was hurt?” Who indeed? Let’s get rid of all those ‘attempted XXXXX’ crimes, hell the bullet missed for goodness' sakes. A non-proactive, ‘only bad if you get caught and something bad happened’ system is the way to go and would streamline any judicial system. I doth my cap, Sir!

Johno, your anti-intellectualism is noted. We’re looking for a blog with virtual crayons as I type.

I always enjoyed school, and I guess it is a good thing I was pretty smart, cuz it got to the point where I didn't want to open a book and I pulled B's all through school without opening a book. It does tend to show up now days though, since I am not the worlds best speller, and I don't do to well with the grammar either. I did graduate from Apollo High in Arizona in 1983, right on time, although my mother was really worried that I would do something silly since most of my really close friends were younger than me. My Senior year I was active in the Flag line and I was Thin... and popular.. boy was that nice.

This story is backlash against David Dein. He has made enemies with his back door dealings in English football and I am convinced that is why this story - which otherwise would have lost its legs long ago - is still getting ink in the press. But as someone pointed out the press is resorting to statements like "they could be kicked out of the CL" -- Bollocks. Just another sign this story is a non-story.